Attack on Titan chapter 138 is the penultimate chapter of Attack on Titan. Everything has been leading to this point, and if the beginning of the Marley arc and the end of last chapter are any indication, it will feature a final confrontation between Eren and Armin. Armin and Eren have been best friends since childhood. Armin is the one who set Eren on his current path, teaching him about the outside world. Early on in the series, Eren reflects on the fact that he would spend his days staring up at the sky in a daze. Armin woke him up with tales of a vast world beyond the walls. Eren woke up to the fact that he wasn’t free, and from that day on, he has strived towards freedom at any cost. Early on after the four-year time skip, Armin talks to Annie about the fact that he doesn’t understand Eren anymore. They’ve drifted apart. Their philosophies have become polar opposites. Armin strives towards peace and coexistence, while Eren strives for freedom, at any cost, even destroying the world. At the end of chapter 137, Armin finally accepts he will never be able to reach his friend. He says goodbye and goes nuclear, transforming into the Colossal Titan in order to destroy the Founding Titan once and for all. We do not believe that Eren is dead, but things have come to a crossroads, and a final confrontation is in play.
We haven’t actually seen Eren conscious, in the present, interacting with anyone, since he told Ymir to initiate the Rumbling in chapter 122. We’ve heard his voice in through PATHS, we briefly saw his head, somewhere, but we haven’t gotten Eren’s point of view. We have no idea what’s going through his mind or where he really is. This leads us to believe he may not even be in the Founding Titan at all, similar to how the War Hammer Titan is not in the nape of its respective Titan. Similar to the War Hammer Titan, the Founding Titan did not start its transformation at the nape, but from the bottom-up. This leads to the possibility that Eren is not even in the vicinity of the Rumbling. What if he’s still on Paradis Island?
There’s also another interesting fact: in chapter 134, we see Historia in labor with her child. It’s been widely speculated that this child is Eren’s, and there is circumstantial evidence to back this up. If this is true, a child of royal blood and the son of the Founding Titan/Attack Titan/War Hammer Titan is being born as the war for humanity’s fate rages on. Isayama often tells parts of his story out of order, so Historia’s child could being born just as Zeke dies. Zeke talks about being re-born. When an Eldian Titan Shifter dies before passing on their power, the power of the Titan Shifter is passed on to a baby who is a Subject of Ymir. What if Historia’s baby, who has royal blood, inherits the Beast Titan’s powers from a now-deceased Zeke? What if Eren is on Paradis Island and is with the child? Through that, he can re-initiate the rumbling and continue to trample the world.
The final confrontation between Armin and Eren won’t be a physical one, but a philosophical one. By this point, Armin has already tried nuking Eren to death, which will not work, even if he is within the Founding Titan. Their friendship has long past been broken. The tragic thing is, he’s been doing this to save Mikasa and Armin, and everybody else. Those words were spoken by Grisha and spoken by Kruger, most likely passed down from Eren. So those were his words. He knows what’s going to happen beyond what’s currently taking place. He knew what was going to happen when the alliance attacked him. His power is near-omniscient at this point. He has become god-like, or a devil; whichever you want to believe. Remember, Kruger said that anyone can become a god or a devil, all it takes is for people to believe. It has been shown time and time again that there have been people on both sides of the fence. The world sees him as a devil, the people of Paradis as a god, and others simply as a human being — the same way Ymir the Founder is viewed, which is no coincidence.
In chapter 137 it is revealed that PATHS is a world beyond life and death created by Ymir. If it is a world beyond life and death, then it’s not only possible to speak with the “dead” in PATHS, but it could be possible to use the power of the Coordinate to create a whole new world, one where the cycle of violence and hatred by Eldians and the rest of the world is broken. Kruger spoke about breaking the cycle, and he could have meant metaphorically, but we believe he meant it literally. We also believe that these were words that came from Eren through Kruger. Kruger only appeared for a brief time, but his legacy informed everything that has happened in Attack on Titan since his introduction. There are two quotes we feel are important and point to our time loop theory on how Attack on Titan will end that come directly from Kruger.
Ever since the first day I kicked a patriot off this wall, ever since that day you took your sister outside the walls, we must push forward until the price of our actions is paid. Even in death and even after death. This is a story that you began, is it not?”
Eren says something similar to his father in chapter 121, so we believe that these words came from Eren.
“Did you forget why you came here? Isn’t it to get revenge for your little sister, who was eaten by dogs? For your fellow restorationists? For Dina. For Kruger. You advance on to avenge them. Even if you die. Even after you die.”
This can allude to only one thing, and one thing alone: the PATHS world, which is the world beyond life and death. Then finally, there’s this quote from Kruger.
“If you can’t do that, it’ll only repeat. The same history… The same mistakes… Over and over. To save Mikasa, Armin, and everyone else, you must see it through.”
He could be speaking metaphorically, but again, we think he is speaking literally, and this is coming straight from Eren. For some reason, Eren needs the Rumbling as a catalyst to break the cycle and stop the world from repeating the same history over and over again. That is why Ymir the Founder sent a message to Eren, specifically, 2,000 years ago. We know she did because of the titles of chapter one and chapter 122, “To You, 2,000 Years From Now”, and “From You, 2,000 Years Ago.” Eren and Ymir are the same; the only difference being Eren has a stronger will. But they both desire the same thing. And next chapter, this will be revealed.
Armin is now able to freely travel between PATHS and the “real” world. He is the only one we’ve actually seen do this, other than Zeke, who’s now dead. He and Eren will have a confrontation within the PATHS world; a philosophical confrontation. We’ll finally see Eren’s point of view, as we haven’t seen that for the entirety of the Rumbling. We’ll find out what his plan is, which is to break the cycle of slavery and free Eldians from their shackles. The loop re-started in the first chapter when Eren woke up with visions of the future, only this time, the loop will be broken. Eren will finally be free, which is what he will tell his child in the final panel of chapter 139.
Attack on Titan chapter 138 may not reveal all of this, being the penultimate chapter, and will likely end with the cliffhangers of all cliffhangers. But everything points to it and there’s more than enough evidence to support it.
The final battle is really between Eren and Armin, and the end result will be Eren finally breaking the time loop they’ve been stuck in, utilizing the Rumbling and the PATHS world to remake the world to achieve true freedom.